Waiting for the Endless Dawn
by Vexovoid
Summary: Sometimes you need to stop worrying about the happiness of others and focus on your own. Hermione helps Harry see that. Title is from the album of the same name by The Eternal.


**Waiting for the Endless Dawn**

**I do not own Harry Potter, this is purely a work of my imagination.**

It was cold in the forest.

Senses of loss, grief, anger, and sorrow permeated the area.

And it was mostly coming from one specific tent, in an undisclosed location.

"Harry, we need to go after him-" Hermione Granger started but Harry cut her off.

"No, Hermione, he's gone. He's not coming back. He's not permitted back here. This was the last straw. I'm done dealing with him and his nonsense. He can go stay at his _dear old mummy's_ house instead of being a fucking man where he needs to be," Harry said. And fed up he was. For you see, their other friend-er, ex friend-Ron Weasley, had abandoned them. For the second time in seven years. And Harry was none too keen on giving the red haired boy a third chance. "Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. Hermione, he's nothing more than a coward," Harry spat.

"But Harry-" started Hermione again, tears threatening to fall.

"Hermione, why should we let Ron come back to us?" Harry asked incredulously. "He's always been a jealous, cowardly git. When the going got tough in fourth year, and he abandoned me with the rest of the sheep, I gave him my trust again after the First Task. Rather foolish of me to think that it wouldn't happen again, I suppose." He then added in a more gentle way, "Look, I know you care a lot about him. However, it doesn't change the fact that Ron is gone. We are on our own. I recommend we use that time to do a couple of things. We need to find a new location for our tent, and continue the hunt for Horcruxes."

Hermione didn't really say anything, instead just started sobbing again, wanting things to go back to the way they were.

"Hermione, I-" started Harry, trying to console her.

"WHAT, HARRY?" Hermione suddenly snapped. "How can you be this callous? Do you just not care about Ron, or me? Because as far as I can tell, you don't. You care for nothing more than this _wretched, miserable, futile_ hunt. Do I think you can defeat You-Know-Who? No, I don't. You relied on me to get you through the first six years of school. You-" Hermione began but was suddenly cut off.

"Alright." Harry simply said. "If you're going to leave, then give me the locket. You're letting it get to you, and it apparently is too much for you to handle," he continued in a deathly calm manner. "I'll figure it out on my own. Go to Ron, or whomever. Merlin knows you'd rather be there, or anywhere else, than here." He then took the locket from Hermione and placed on the nearby nightstand. The tent door was open, the cold air coming in. "You're free to go whenever." He motioned to the door. "I'm going for a walk to clear my head. If you're still here when I get back, fine. If you aren't, that's also fine. I'm not forcing anyone to stay here if they don't want to." He then left, and the door stayed open.

Hermione was torn. On the one hand, Harry was her best friend. He had always been there, ever since their first year, and they had two major points of contention. Once in third year, when she went behind his back to give his broomstick to McGonagall, and in sixth year when she was constantly sniping at him over the fact that his Potions book contained notes that helped him, and the fact she was jealous of Ron and Lavender. Other than that, she was the one who stayed with him constantly, through thick and thin.

On the other, more fleeting hand, she wanted to leave the hunt, go find Ron, and spend the rest of the war with him. She knew that was probably the course of action that would get her the most scrutiny and hate from the Wizarding World, as she would have turned her back on the only one potentially capable of stopping Voldemort.

She didn't know why she liked Ron, truthfully. He was all of the things that Harry mentioned about him. When the going got tough, Ron got up and went. That was the truth of the matter. And there was the other issue that the two seemed to fight at every possible chance they had. Why would she want to be with someone who constantly belittles her, then gets jealous whenever anyone else shows interest in her? She distinctly remembered the Yule Ball, when she went with Krum, and how Ron had ruined the evening for her by being a jealous prat.

So what did she like about him? He was tall, somewhat good-looking, and that was really it, she guessed. The other question was, did she like Harry?

'What's not to like?' she thought to herself sadly. He was not as tall as Ron, but was better looking, and he didn't have a penchant for abandoning her, even last year, when she was extraordinarily difficult to be around. No, she needed to find Harry, and let him know that she wouldn't be like Ron. She muttered, Point Me, Harry Potter. Her wand lit up and spun in the direction he was heading.

After about twenty minutes of walking, she found him sitting on a rock, looking over a lake in the forest. "Harry?" she called out tentatively.

Harry sighed, got up, and went to face Hermione. "What, Hermione? Come to harp at me for continuing this _wret_-" he attempted.

Hermione cast a silencing charm at him. "Now you listen to me, Harry James Potter, because I'm only going to say this once. No. I'm not going to abandon you. Yes, I think the hunt is foolish, but only because I'm incredibly worried about you. I've no idea what You-Know-Who is capable of. And for the record, neither do you. Dumbledork never bothered to train you, only went with you once to find a fake copy of where Lord Cumstain hid a locket. He seemed to be setting you up for failure. We need to train, and there's not a lot of time. Why don't we just get out of Britain entirely?"

She undid the charm.

"My godfather was killed by his batshit insane cousin, Hermione!" Harry exclaimed angrily. "I need to-" he was cut off again.

"No, Harry, she only hit him with a stunner. He fell through the veil. I can't even imagine the pain you felt at losing your godfather. But why should we CARE what happens to Wizarding Britain? Look how it's treated us! You and I have had more nonsense thrown at us ever since we got into Hogwarts than perhaps anyone else in the history of the damn school. I for one want to move to America, escape this mess, and attempt to have a normal life!" She exclaimed vehemently.

Harry was about to say something else, but then pondered her words. She had a point, why should he bother to save a group of sheep that were either with him or against him, seemingly every other year?

"Harry, I love you." Hermione said simply.

He was speechless at that proclamation.

"I…"

"And I know you might not feel that way, but it had to be said. I love you too much for you to get hurt or killed fighting this worthless animal. Come with me. Let's go away from this mess. What do you think is going to happen after the war? They're going to automatically blame you for whatever happens after that threatens the sanctity of their little world, and then expect you to fix it. That's not a healthy way to live." She continued.

Harry sighed. He knew she was right. And if they went and stopped the most evil wizard in the history of Britain, without counting his legions of dark creatures, Death Eaters, and Merlin-only-knows what else, he would just be the scapegoat again.

"Hermione, I love you as well. I have ever since fourth year. And I can't imagine a life without you. I was only with Ginny because I wanted you, but I know you didn't want me. I thought she could make you jealous. And if Ron got you, after this war, as if you were some kind of object, I can only imagine the shit he'd put you through." Harry said morosely.

"Get with Ron, Harry? You must be joking." Hermione looked as if she had smelt something particularly foul when she said that. "Sure, he's tall, and somewhat good-looking, but we fight all the time. I still don't particularly know why I wanted him in sixth year."

"So, America?" asked Harry.

"Or somewhere else, Harry. Let's just try to live a normal life. Let's be normal people." Hermione finished.

"Then let's go." Harry said. "Whatever the future brings, I will be with you, Hermione."

She kissed him at that, to which he returned, in that cold forest. The forest where new emotions flowed. Hope being the primary one.

**Epilogue**

Magical Britain was in shambles a year later. Voldemort was the new Emperor, but he wouldn't dare try and take Muggle Britain. He knew what kinds of weapons Muggles had, and he did NOT fancy losing all of his men to those "nuleklear" weapons he had heard about. He was confused why there was no Harry Potter, but it was no difference to him.

The Weasleys had perished, along with Neville and Luna, as they were some of the biggest threats to Voldemort. He at least gave Ginny and Luna merciful deaths with an Avada Kedavra, rather than have them be raped by the likes of people such as Theodore Nott or Draco Malfoy.

Hogwarts had fallen, and was in ruin. There was no recovering it.

Voldemort was content with ruling Britain. It was the easiest victory, and he had no need for other territories. He could take them if he wished, but that was too much work for him right now.

Harry and Hermione moved to America, where they stayed away from the magical world. They ended up finishing their education at a Muggle high school before going to the same university. They would marry two years after finishing school, and Harry became a police officer. Hermione became a professor at Yale. They had three children in the years that followed, and couldn't be happier. All because of a split decision that turned out to be the best decision they ever made in a cold, despairing forest in Britain.

**A/N:**

**And that's a wrap. My first completed fanfiction here. I have other ideas for stories in the future, and I cannot wait to share them with you all. No idea when they will happen, as I am extraordinarily busy, and need to find a good time to write. Please let me know what you thought, and if there were writing mistakes, let me know how I can improve in future stories.**


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